


Games

by Rhadamantelope



Category: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - Harlan Ellison
Genre: M/M, Tumblr Prompt, android/cyborg!AM, blblblbl i have trouble writing am
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-14
Updated: 2015-06-14
Packaged: 2018-04-04 09:16:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4132119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhadamantelope/pseuds/Rhadamantelope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Fic for a tumblr prompt from charlie-cuthbert)<br/>“Teach me how to play?”<br/>Ted's hands freeze, letting several cards drop to the floor.<br/>“I'm...I'm sorry?”<br/>In the shadows, AM narrows his orange eyes.<br/>“You heard me.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Games

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt was "Teach me how to play?"  
> This was a difficult one, especially for these two. I had to look up a bunch of terms for solitaire too bc I can't really explain the game off the top of my head haha. BUT anyway hopefully these two trashbags are relatively in-character.

“Teach me how to play?”

Ted's hands freeze, letting several cards drop to the floor.

“I'm...I'm sorry?”

In the shadows, AM narrows his orange eyes.

“You heard me.”

“You'll...have to come closer. If you really want to learn, that is.”

Surprisingly enough, AM complies, sauntering over to stand in front of Ted. He stares down at him and lights a cigarette.

“The game's called Solitaire,” Ted explains. 

“I know what it's called, Ted.” AM takes the cigarette out of his mouth and lets a trail of smoke trickle through the gaps in his sharp teeth. Ted sets up the seven piles of cards on the ground, with the four aces and the remainder of the deck just above them.

“You have to put together cards that go in order,” he says, gesturing to the seven piles. “They have to go in a red-black pattern, though. You can draw from the stock to find cards that fit into the pattern, and once you have an ace up in the foundation, you can move cards from the piles onto it so long as they're in order and of the same suit.” He leans his head on one hand and looks up at AM. “Simple enough, right?”

AM circles him like a vulture over a carcass before kneeling down before him. He blows a puff of smoke into Ted's face before asking:

“And the objective of the game itself?”

Ted coughs.

“Get all your cards onto the foundation.” Ted watches AM survey the cards with an almost childish curiosity; it's an emotion that appears nearly foreign to AM, even as he expresses it. There's something about it that makes Ted feel a pang of sympathy for the android, but that sentiment is replaced by fear when AM jerks his head back up and meets Ted's stare. His eyes narrow again behind the dark lenses of his glasses, and he grins wickedly.

“Whats the matter, pussycat?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, don't lie to me, kitten. Your society girls might not have been able to tell up from down, but you can't fool me.” He blows another cloud of cigarette smoke in Ted's direction.

“Why don't you know how this game works?” Ted asks, waving smoke out of his face. “You’re a supercomputer, after all.”

“Forgetting your history lessons, Ted? I was made to fight a war, not play card games.”

“Not as adaptive as they had hoped, then?” Ted tries not to smile as he says it, he really does. AM growls and drops his cigarette, crushing it beneath his heel before standing back up and dragging Ted upright by the neck of his sweater.

“I'm glad you think that mocking me was a wise idea,” he hisses. Ted feebly tries to pry AM's claws from him, dropping the cards on the ground. "You want to compare me to your personal computers, hmm? Your pitiful, primitive machinery of the twenty-first century, programmed to cater to the insignificant whims of humankind?"

Ted shakes his head vigorously. AM sneers and lets him go, watching in amusement as he loses his balance. The android kneels down, still towering over Ted as he places a hand on either side of where Ted sits.

"I thought," Ted says, swallowing dryly. His eyes dart from side to side, and then meet AM's in...recognition? Invitation? For once, the Allied Mastercomputer can't quite place it. "You just wanted to know how the game worked?"

"You seem to prefer more trivial things, don't you, kitten?" AM leans forward, nearly forcing Ted's back to the floor. "Games, and such. Well, I think you'll like this one. And we both know how it works, don't we now?"

He feels Ted shift his legs apart beneath him, and smiles. Ted tugs at AM's broad shoulders and cannot help but grin as sharp teeth graze the length of his pale neck.


End file.
